Detective Joe Kenda investigated some of America’s grizzliest murders during two decades working as a homicide detective with the Colorado Springs Police Department.

His extraordinary success rate catching gang leaders, criminal masterminds and cold-blooded killers earned him a reputation as one of America’s most legendary detectives.

He cracked 387 homicide cases before retiring in 1996 giving him a 92 per cent success rate – when the national average was less than 60 per cent. Many had gone unsolved for decades before his intervention.

(Image: Courtesy of Investigation Discovery (U.S.))

He’s now taking viewers behind the yellow tape for TV series Homicide Hunter, on new Freeview channel BLAZE, to reveal how he solved some of his most gruesome murder investigations. Each episode is unscripted and told through reconstructions.

“There is one thing that never changes,” explains the 70-year-old hardman in his laconic American drawl. “Murder. A life has been taken.

“Their stories are now my stories. Somebody has to take control. Somebody has to look out for the victim. I never know where a case is going to lead. But I won’t stop until it’s solved."

PURSUIT OF KILLERS

(Image: Courtesy of Investigation Discovery (U.S.))

Kenda added: “I absolutely loved what I did, even though it’s disturbing to see the violence humans are capable of. I loved being the guy that solved the puzzle and put people in a cage who needed to be in one. That was worth it to me.”

Kenda knew early on that a life working for the family trucking business in Pittsburgh was not for him. Instead, he headed West with his wife Kathy to pursue his dream of being a detective.

His unconventional career choice makes him a natural fit for BLAZE - a channel “raising the flag for real people who boldly follow their own path”.

His unflappable demeanour and no-nonsense interrogation technique made him feared among Colorado’s criminal underworld, while his sarcastic put-downs have won him lots of fans.

“You want sympathy? Look it up in the dictionary. It’s right between s*** and syphilis,” is one classic.

(Image: Courtesy of Investigation Discovery (U.S.))

Tonight’s episode (Tuesday, November 22) sees Kenda reliving an investigation from 1992 when a young man was found dead following a shotgun attack on a desolate mountain road. Leads are almost non-existent, with only a trail of blood leading to an abandoned car to go on.

The tale is a fascinating insight into Kenda’s single-minded pursuit of killers, and a sobering reminder of the grim tasks faced by detectives who deal with death.

Recalling the moment he had to haul the dead man’s body out of a culvert, Kenda explains: “Is there some clever scientific way to do that? No, there isn’t. It’s get a hold of him, however you can, and drag him 40ft out of that culvert. Which is exactly what we did.”

Other cases in the series include the investigation of a fearsome gang leader suspected of a drive-by shooting and a case involving the murder of an entire family.

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He adds: “The thing that always strikes me the most about homicides, more than anything else, is how quiet they are. Because there is nothing alive in here.

“Homicide investigation is a series of highs and lows. You get very high and very low when things aren’t working.

“Whenever you’re talking to an individual you know is lying to you then it’s a process of ratcheting up the pressure. You want them to become distressed.

“When you reach that moment when you know the truth is about to come, everything slows down, the room gets very quiet. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.”

SECRET TO SUCCESS

(Image: Courtesy of Investigation Discovery (U.S.))

Kenda is in no doubt as to the reasons behind his extraordinary success rate, putting it down to his determination to get his man, rather than his superior tracking skills.

“I will not go away,” he says. “That is the difference”.

What about the remaining eight per cent of homicide cases he didn’t solve?

“They still bother me all day, every day,” he admits. “They absolutely all do, and I know who did every one of them, and I cannot prove it in a court.

“That is maddening, it is absolutely maddening. I still think about it every day, I really do.”

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